. HH. H. Howorth—The Mammoth in Siberia. 499 
waves have washed away the earth, Mammoths’ bones not un- 
frequently appear, and he again adds that the whole of the coast 
from the Aleseya to the Indigirka is rich in Mammoth bones. While 
near the Baranicha, between a low hill and the sea. the ground 
might be said to consist entirely of Mammoth and Buffalo bones. 
He noticed a large heap of jawbones that had been thrown aside by 
a previous party. In regard to the Bear Islands, he says: The soil 
of the first Bear Island consists only of sand and ice, with such 
quantities of Mammoth bones that they seem to form the chief 
substance of the island. Among the bones are also found the skulls 
and horns of an animal resembling the Buffalo (i.e. of the Bison). 
The people on the Indigirka are employed in trapping foxes and 
collecting Mammoth bones. Near the mouth of the Uschewaya the 
banks are often undermined, and Mammoths’ bones exposed, of 
which the Yukagiri obtain a large supply annually. This part of 
the coast is generally rich, he says, in Mammoths’ bones. 
Further west Erdmann tells us that in the lower valley of the 
Lena, at the place where the Vilui disembogues into that river, 
between the rocky hills which confine the course of the Yana, and 
at the Icy sea on both sides of the mouth of the river, are found the 
teeth and bones of Mammoths, Rhinoceroses, and other quadrupeds, 
and even whole carcases (op. cit. vol. ii. p. 378). 
But the most famous deposits of all of the Mammoth bones are 
found in the Liachof archipelago, so called from a merchant named 
Liachof, who in the year 1770 began to collect fossil ivory there, 
and so enriched himself that he got the exclusive privilege of 
digging for the ivory there, a privilege which he transmitted to his 
descendants. These famous islands are situated off the promontory 
known as Sviatoi noass, between the mouths of the Yana and the 
Indigirka, and about 74° N.L. 
According to the report of Samukof, who was there frequently, 
the soil of the first of these islands is almost composed of fossil 
bones, and near it is a mud bank ‘which exposes fresh ones with 
every storm. This made him conclude that a large deposit lay 
under the sea there. 
In one of these islands is a lake with high banks, which split 
open in the summer, when the sun melts the ice, and disclose heaps 
of tusks, Mammoths’ bones, and bones of Rhinoceroses and Buffaloes 
(doubtless Musk Oxen are meant). The ivory is often as fresh and 
white as that from Africa. In other parts of the island bones 
and tusks are to be seen projecting from the ground. Liachof was 
engaged for many years in digging ivory there, and built huts 
and a magazine for his people who lived there in the summer. 
North of the Liachof Islands are those known as New Siberia. 
These consist of the islands known as Kotelnoi, Fadeyefskoi, 
and a third more to the east. They were partially discovered by 
Liachof’s people, who, however, kept the matter secret. Another 
speculator obtained a special privilege of digging there. Later, 
Count Rumanzof, Herr Hedenstrom, with a number of companions, 
among whom was Samukof, went there. Hedenstrom reports that 
